Memory card connector

ABSTRACT

A memory card connector has a sliding member and a sliding pin for coupling the insertion and rejection of the memory card. The sliding member can be stayed at the position of insertion or rejection of the memory card. A retaining sheet is formed on the side of the sliding member. The end of the retaining sheet is stamped into a dimple. A retaining portion is formed on the housing of the memory card connector corresponding to the position of the dimple. The dimple can be pushed into the retaining portion when the memory card is rejected to the rejection position. The dimple can be protruded into a notch formed on the memory card by the resilience force of the retaining sheet while the notch reaches the position corresponding to the dimple. Because of the dimple leaving the position corresponding to the retaining portion of the housing; the dimple can be retained in the notch when the memory card is pushed toward the insertion position. The dimple retains the notch of the memory card for preventing the memory card from dropping out of the predetermined position or being ejected abnormally while the memory card is in the insertion state.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention generally relates to the field of a memory cardconnector, and in particular to a memory card connector with acard-retaining mechanism for preventing the memory card from droppingout of the predetermined position or being ejected abnormally.

2. The Related Art

Digital electronic products, such as digital still camera, MP3 player,cellular phone, etc., are required with larger capacity of storage mediato satisfy the demand of digital images and music with higher qualitiesby the users. In general, the capacities of built-in storage media ofdigital electronic products are not able to meet the requirement ofstorage capacities by the users. Accordingly, the flash memory cardswith the advantages of small size, large capacities, accessing quickly,and easy to install and carry have become the major storage media in thedigital electronic products.

For accessing the flash memory cards, the digital electronic productsare equipped with electrical connectors adapted to corresponding flashmemory card. Most of the electrical connectors have a foolproof designto prevent the failure of the flash memory cards and the digitalelectronic products resulted from the wrong insert direction. Someelectrical connectors have a mechanism for rejecting the flash memorycards, which keeps the angle of the insertion and rejection identicaland prevents the failure of the flash memory cards and the digitalelectronic products.

The electrical connector with a mechanism to reject memory card has asliding member which can be slid accompanying the insertion andrejection of the memory card. The electrical connector further comprisesa circular guiding groove. The guiding groove keeps the memory card inan insertion state while the memory card inserted to a predeterminedposition. The guiding groove keeps the memory card in a rejection statewhen the memory card to a rejection position. The mechanism is so called“push—push” mechanism. The push—push mechanism is mostly set with aguiding pin. The guiding pin makes the sliding member stay in theinsertion state or rejection state respectively by the slide andfastening of the guiding pin in the circular guiding groove. The slidingmember is required movable relatively to the housing of the electricalconnector within the electrical connector. Thus, one end of the guidingpin needs to fix on the sliding member or the housing of the electricalconnector (it depends on the whole design of the electrical connector)the other end is moved and retained in the circular guiding groove. Thesliding member can be switched between the insertion state and therejection state by the relative position of the guiding pin in thecircular guiding groove. Therefore, the memory card can be stayed in theinsertion state or rejection state within the electrical connector.

Nevertheless, the prior electrical connector with a memory cardrejecting mechanism has a problem of the abnormal rejection of thememory card. If the memory card is rejected from a predeterminedposition abnormally, the data in the memory card may be lost and thedigital electronic product and the memory card may be damaged.Accordingly, it has become an important issue of preventing the memorycard from dropping out of the predetermined position or being ejectedabnormally.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is therefore a primary objective of the present invention to providea memory card connector which has a card-retaining mechanism forpreventing the memory card from dropping out of the predeterminedposition or being ejected abnormally.

To achieve the above objective, the memory card connector according tothe present invention has a housing, with a plurality of terminals seton the housing for electrically connecting with the adapted terminals ofa memory card. The housing is provided with a circular guiding grooveset thereon. The memory card connector further has a sliding member anda sliding pin disposed on the side of the housing. The sliding pin isbent into a specific shape and includes a linkage portion and a claspingportion, wherein the clasping portion can be located at a predeterminedinsertion position and a predetermined rejection position of thecircular guiding groove alternately. The sliding member can be slid tothe corresponding positions according to the insertion and the rejectionof the memory card. A recess portion is formed on the front end of thesliding member. A retaining hole is further formed on the recessportion. The linkage portion of the sliding pin is penetrated throughthe retaining hole and retained on the recess portion. The indenteddepth of the recess portion on the sliding member is substantially equalto the thickness of the sliding pin so that the top of the sliding pinis substantially at the same level as the surface of the sliding member.A resilient member is arranged with one end thereof against the housingand the other end thereof against the sliding member for providing thesliding member with a restoring force toward the rejection direction ofthe memory card. A retaining sheet is formed on the side of the slidingmember adjacent to the memory card, with the end thereof stamped into adimple for engaging with a notch formed on the corresponding side of thememory card and retaining the memory card in the insertion position.Correspondingly, a retaining portion is formed on the side of thehousing for containing the dimple when the sliding member is in therejection position.

Thus, the memory card connector in accordance with the present inventioncould retain the memory card and prevent the memory card from droppingout of the predetermined position or being ejected abnormally by meansof the engagement of the dimple of the retaining sheet and the notch ofthe memory card when the memory card is inserted into the insertionposition. Furthermore, the structure of the retaining sheet inconjunction with the sliding member can reduce the difficulty and thecost of the production of the memory card connector.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art byreading the following description of a preferred embodiment thereof,with reference to the attached drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a memory card connector in accordancewith the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an exploded view of the memory card connector in accordancewith the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the memory card connector which is inthe rejection state;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the memory card connector which is inthe insertion state;

FIG. 5 is an angled view of the sliding member according to the presentinvention;

FIG. 6 is a lateral view of the combination of the sliding member andthe guiding rod;

FIG. 7 is a schematic view of the path of the clasping portion movingwithin the circular guiding groove;

FIG. 7 a is a schematic view of the clasping portion located at positionA of the circular guiding groove;

FIG. 7 b is a schematic view of the clasping portion located at positionB of the circular guiding groove;

FIG. 7 c is a schematic view of the clasping portion located at positionC of the circular guiding groove;

FIG. 7 d is a schematic view of the clasping portion located at positionD of the circular guiding groove;

FIG. 7 e is a schematic view of the clasping portion located at positionE of the circular guiding groove; and

FIG. 7 f is a schematic view of the clasping portion located at positionF of the circular guiding groove.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Please refer to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2. FIG. 1 is a perspective viewillustrating a memory card connector 10 according to the presentinvention. FIG. 2 is an exploded view of the memory card connector 10.The memory card connector 10 comprises a housing 12. A plurality ofresilient terminals 40 are set on the housing 12. The resilientterminals 40 can be made electrical connection with correspondingterminals (not shown) of the memory card 60 while the memory card 60 isinserted in the memory card connector 10 to an insertion state. Asliding member 30 is set on the side of the memory card connector 10.The sliding member 30 is accommodated to the housing 12 for guiding themovement of insertion and rejection of the memory card 60. The slidingmember 30 holds the memory card 60 in the insertion state when thememory card 60 is inserted to the insertion state. Besides, the slidingmember 30 can reject the memory card 60 to a rejection state when thememory card 60 is rejected to the rejection state. A guiding rod 52 isdisposed on the housing 12. A guiding hole 38 is formed on the slidingmember 30. The guiding rod 52 is penetrated through the guiding hole 38for constraining the sliding member 30 in a predetermined area. Thesliding member 30 slides according to the insertion or rejection of thememory card 60 respectively. A resilient member 50 is assembled with theguiding rod 52. In this embodiment in accordance with the presentinvention, the resilient member 50 is a hollow coiled spring in acylindrical shape. The resilient member 50 wraps around the outside ofthe guiding rod 52. One end of the resilient member 50 is against thehousing 12, and the other end is against the sliding member 30.Accordingly, the sliding member 30 is provided with a restoring forcetoward the rejected direction of the memory card 60. The housing 12further comprises a projecting portion 16 which is extended inwardlyfrom the side of the memory card connector 10 at an angle for preventingthe insertion of the memory card 60 in wrong directions. That is, theprojecting portion 16 will block the memory card 60 when the memory card60 is inserted in wrong directions so as to prevent the damage of thememory card connector 10 due to the wrong insertions and avoid thememory card 60 jamming within the memory card connector 10.

The memory card connector 10 has a sliding pin 20 disposed with thesliding member 30 in order to accomplish the insertion and rejection ofthe memory card 60. The sliding pin 20 includes a linkage portion 22 anda clasping portion 24. The linkage portion 22 of the sliding pin 20 isin a slanted S-shape and obliquely penetrated through a retaining hole34 which is defined in a recess portion 32 formed on the front end ofthe sliding member 30. The clasping portion 24 is formed on the end ofthe sliding pin 20 opposite to the linkage portion 22. A circularguiding groove 18 is formed on the bottom of the housing 12 forpositioning the clasping portion 24. The clasping portion 24 is bentdownward into a substantially right angle for positioning and claspingin the corresponding locations of the circular guiding groove 18.

The sliding member 30 further comprises a depressor 36. The depressor 36is formed with a metal sheet on the sliding member 30. The depressor 36depresses the clasping portion 24 of the sliding pin 20 downward so asto force the free end of the clasping portion 24 resiliently retainedagainst the bottom surface of the circular guiding groove 18. Because ofthe restoring force of the sliding member 30 toward the card rejectiondirection and the downward stress of the clasping portion 24, theclasping portion 24 can be positioned between the insertion position andthe rejection position on the circular guiding groove 18 alternatively.Thus, the sliding member 30 can be retained in the correspondingposition by which the clasping portion 24 stays while the memory card 60is inserted and rejected.

A retaining sheet 33 is formed on the side of the sliding member 30adjacent to the memory card 60. The end of the retaining sheet 33 isstamped into a dimple 35 for retaining the memory card 60 and preventingthe memory card 60 from dropping out of the predetermined position orbeing ejected abnormally while the memory card 60 is in the insertionstate. Furthermore, A retaining portion 14 is formed on the side of thehousing 12 of the memory card connector 10 corresponding to the positionof the dimple 35. The dimple 35 can be pushed into the retaining portion14 when the memory card 60 is rejected to the rejection position.

Please refer to FIG. 3 and FIG. 4. FIG. 3 is the perspective view of thememory card connector 10 with the memory card 60 which is in therejection state. FIG. 4 is the perspective view of the memory cardconnector 10 with the memory card 60 which is in the insertion state.The memory card 60 can be a Mini Secure Digital card (Mini SD card). Anotch 62 is formed on the side of the memory card 60 for engaging withthe dimple 35 of the retaining sheet 33. As the memory card 60 isinserted into the memory card connector 10, the notch 62 iscorresponding to the position of the dimple 35 of the retaining sheet33. In the meanwhile, the dimple 35 is in the position corresponding tothe retaining portion 14 of the housing 12. Firstly, the dimple 35 willbe pushed into the retaining portion 14 slightly. The dimple 35 can beprotruded into a notch 62 of the memory card 60 by the resilience forceof the retaining sheet 33 while the notch 62 reaches the positioncorresponding to the dimple 35. Because of the dimple 35 leaving theposition corresponding to the retaining portion 14 of the housing 12,the dimple 35 can be retained in the notch 62 when the memory card 60 ispushed toward the insertion position. The dimple 35 retains the notch 62for preventing the memory card 60 from dropping out of the predeterminedposition or being ejected abnormally while the memory card 62 is in theinsertion state. Contrarily, as the memory card 60 is rejected from theinsertion position to the rejection position, the dimple will back tothe position corresponding to the retaining portion 14 of the housing12. Therefore, the dimple 35 can be pushed into the retaining portion 14instead of retaining the notch 62, and the memory card 60 can be drewout.

Please refer to FIG. 5 and FIG. 6. FIG. 5 and FIG. 6 are the views ofthe combination of the sliding member 30 and the guiding rod 52 fromdifferent angles. The indented depth of the recess portion 32 on thesliding member 30 is substantially equal to the thickness of the slidingpin 20. Therefore, the top of the sliding pin 20 is substantially at thesame level as the surface of the sliding member 30 after the linkageportion 22 of the sliding pin 20 is inserted into the retaining hole 34.The edge of the recess portion 32, which is contacted with and againstthe memory card 60, is designed into a bevel edge for being against thecorresponding bevel edge of the memory card 60 in parallel relation. Insuch manner, the sliding member 30 can be pushed into the insertionstale according to the insertion of the memory card 60 via engagement ofthe two complementary bevel edges and retained in the insertion statewhen the memory card 60 is inserted. The memory card 60 can be retainedin the insertion state while the memory card 60 is pushed into theinsertion state and held by the memory card connector 10. Contrarily,the memory card 60 can be rejected to the rejection state by therestoring force of the resilient member 50 of the sliding member 30 whenthe clasping portion 24 of the sliding pin 20 escapes from the insertionposition.

Please refer to FIG. 7 and FIG. 7 a to FIG. 7 f. FIG. 7 is the diagramillustrating the movement of the clasping portion 24 in the circularguiding groove 18. FIG. 7 a to FIG. 7 f are the views of each state ofthe clasping portion 24 in the circular guiding groove 18. The claspingportion 24 is at the position A when the sliding member 30 is stayed inthe rejection state. The sliding member 30 is pushed from the rejectionstate to the insertion state, with the clasping portion 24 moving fromposition A to position B. Because of the boundary of the position B andposition C is a slanted step, the clasping portion 24 cannot back toposition B from position C after the clasping portion 24 is pushed pastthe boundary between position Band position C. The sliding member 30 hasbeen in the insertion state since the clasping portion 24 reached theposition C. As the sliding member 30 has the restoring force toward thedirection of rejection by pressing the resilient member 50, the claspingportion 24 will slide to the position D and retained at the position Dafter reaching the position C. Thus, the sliding member 30 can beretained in the insertion state.

The sliding member 30 is pushed a little distance toward the directionof insertion for pushing the clasping portion 24 out of the position Dand forward to the position E when the sliding member 30 is rejectedfrom the insertion state to the rejection state. Similarly, the boundaryof the position D and the position E is a slanted step, hence theclasping portion 24 cannot backed to the position D from the position E.The clasping portion 24 will continue to slide through the position F tothe position A along the circular guiding groove 18 due to the restoringforce of the sliding member 30. The sliding member 30 is retained in therejection state after the clasping portion 24 reached the position A.Because of the boundary of the position F and the position A is aslanted step, the clasping can be pushed forward to the position Binstead of the position F from the position A when the sliding member 30is pushed from the rejection state to the insertion state next time.

In contrast to the prior art, the memory card connector 10 in accordancewith the present invention could retain the memory card 60 and preventthe memory card 60 from dropping out of the predetermined position orbeing ejected abnormally by means of the engagement of the dimple 35 ofthe retaining sheet 33 and the notch 62 of the memory card 60 when thememory card 60 is inserted into the insertion position. Furthermore, thesliding member 30 of memory card connector 10 in accordance with thepresent invention is provided with the recess portion 32. The linkageportion 22 of the sliding pin 20 is in a slanted S-shape and obliquelypenetrated through the retaining hole 34 of the recess portion 32. Theclasping portion 24 is formed on the end of the sliding pin 20 oppositeto the linkage portion 22. The top of the sliding pin 20 issubstantially at the same level as the surface of the sliding member 30.The structure combined of the recess portion 32 of the sliding member 30and the sliding pin 20 is able to reduce the thickness of the memorycard connector and minimize the probability of failure.

Although the present invention has been described with reference to thepreferred embodiments thereof, it is apparent to those skilled in theart that a variety of modifications and changes may be made withoutdeparting from the scope of the present invention which is intended tobe defined by the appended claims.

1. A memory card connector comprising: a housing; a plurality ofterminals set on housing for electrically connecting with the adaptedterminals of a memory card; a circular guiding groove set on thehousing; a sliding pin bent into a specific shape, which includes alinkage portion and a clasping portion, wherein the clasping portion canbe located at a predetermined insertion position and a predeterminedrejection position of the circular guiding groove alternately; a slidingmember which can be slid to the corresponding positions according to theinsertion and the rejection of the memory card, a recess portion formedon the front end of the sliding member, a retaining hole formed on therecess portion, the linkage portion of the sliding pin penetratedthrough the retaining hole and retained on the recess portion, theindented depth of the recess portion on the sliding member substantiallyequal to the thickness of the sliding pin and the top of the sliding pinbeing substantially at the same level as the surface of the slidingmember; a resilient member disposed with one end thereof against thehousing and the other end thereof against the sliding member forproviding the sliding member with a restoring force toward the rejectiondirection of the memory card; a retaining sheet formed on the side ofthe sliding member, with the end thereof stamped into a dimple forengaging with a notch formed on the corresponding side of the memorycard and retaining the memory card in the insertion position; and aretaining portion formed on the side of the housing corresponding to theposition of the dimple for containing the dimple when the sliding memberis in the rejection position.
 2. The memory card connector as claimed inclaim 1, wherein the linkage portion is in a slanted S-shape and formedon one end of sliding pin, and the clasping portion is formed on theother end of the sliding pin and bent downward into a substantiallyright angle.
 3. The memory card vector as claimed in claim 1, whereinthe housing further comprising a projecting portion which is extendedinwardly at an angle for preventing the insertion of the memory card inwrong directions.
 4. The memory card connector as claimed in claim 1,wherein a guiding rod is disposed on the housing, a guiding hole isformed on the sliding member, the guiding rod is penetrated through theguiding hole for constraining the sliding member in a predeterminedarea.
 5. The memory card connector as claimed in claim 4, wherein theresilient member is a hollow coiled spring in a cylindrical shape whichwraps around the outside of the guiding rod.